Andrew Jackson March 15, 1767 in the Waxhaw Region – June 8, 1845 in Nashville Tennessee Political Party: Democrat Terms: March 4, 1829 – March 3, 1837 Vice Presidents: First term – John Calhoun in 1825-1832; Second term – Martin Van Buren in 1833-1837
Thematic Context
American Identity as a theme was demonstrated in many ways through the way Jackson represented the government. When Jackson was first elected in 1829 (the campaign of 1828), the election in itself was a huge testament to the shift of the government to more democratic ideals. Jackson represented the common man and furthermore, democracy instead of the old aristocratic government. This was a huge change in American Identity because the past was littered with wealthy landowners only represented their wealthy friends. Jackson was the first president where democracy was favored, and this caused a huge shift in the American attitude. While Jackson might not have directly caused this major development, indirectly he was the cause of this democracy takeover. Jackson was also a president that greatly increased the power of the federal government. This was one of the beginning phases of America being known as a powerful country with the government being able to back it up. However, more specifically, he increased the power of the executive branch. The changes he made were the backbone for increasing the overall power of the federal government, like how the president is allowed to employ armed forces in order to enforce a tax within a state’s borders on the government’s behalf. American Identity is now known by a democratic republic government that is an extremely powerful world power that has a government that should not be tossed around. Jackson was the first president to really accentuate these two major parts of the present American Identity in such an early time, therefore the Identity was greatly influenced during his presidency.
Thesis
Andrew Jackson came into the presidency as a heavy favorite and was not, in any way, expected to lose. This meant he was coming into the presidency as a popular man for the people and had the opportunity to make a large positive impact on the country, which he did. In doing that, he changed many things, like the power of the executive branch and the influence of the presidential cabinet. However, the mistakes of mistreating the Native Americans and other cultural issues hindered the success of his administration. For these reasons, Jackson earns a grade of an A for his extraordinary take on the position of power and having a positive impact on the country.
Goals
In Jackson’s both of Jackson’s inaugural addresses, he clearly stated many times that he was the president for the public people, or the common man. His main goal in office was to represent the interests of the common American worker and not just the aristocratic politicians. Since the majority of America did fit into the common man, this goal propelled Jackson to the top of the polls and got him into the presidency with ease. An example of him accomplishing this job was by his spoils system. He wanted more common workers to have government positions, so he did this by giving a lot of those jobs to people who supported him in his campaign. While the people he chose might not have been the most qualified, they were indeed people from the middle-waged worker group. This system of having his own supporters in the government jobs showed that he directly got the common man some voice in the normally aristocratic government and accomplished his goal. This theme was clearly the main goal of his presidency. He also had a smaller goal of keeping the power of the government in the hands of the federal government and not the states. He accomplished this by the Force Act when dealing with South Carolina and their attempt to nullify the law within their state. The force act said that the federal government was allowed to enforce the federal laws within state borders with a matter of force. This then took away the power of the states to be able to control all of the legislations within their state and gave the federal government the power of using force to enforce different laws. Jackson was one of the few presidents that did follow through on many of his goals thoroughly, and that increased his credibility as a president immensely.
Relationship with Congress
Jackson’s relationship with Congress was easily seen with the amount of things that he got passed when he wanted them. The relationship between him and Congress was very good. Many bills were passed, and his followers in Congress were usually able to obtain a majority of votes in order to pass Jackson’s wanted legislatures. Unlike the previous president, Jackson was able to get many positive things accomplished due to his popularity throughout Congress. One example of this was the Indian Removal Act. This was the bill that forced the Native Americans to leave their southeastern homes and move to the Midwest. This was morally wrong, and many humanitarians who were not devoted to Jackson were against it. This caused there to be stiff opposition to this bill and was very controversial. Fortunately for Jackson, he had a large following in Congress that all came together in order to make sure the bill was passed; there were enough of them to overshadow the opposition. In many cases, if a bill is in stiff opposition like the Indian Removal Act was, then it normally does not get passed. However, the large following that Jackson had in Congress allowed things like the Indian Removal Act to be passed, even in the face of opposition. Another aspect of their relationship was that Jackson was not allowing Congress to be more powerful than the executive branch. The way he could control that was through the veto power that he possessed and he used it more than all of the previous presidents combined. This shows that he thought the executive branch should be more powerful than Congress and utilize the veto as much as necessary, not just when something is unconstitutional. Overall the relationship he had with Congress was good because they were in favor of him, but he also changed the relationship they would have for the rest of history. He did this because he is the president that made the veto so used like it is today.
Positive Event
One positive event that Jackson contributed during his presidency was the dealing with South Carolina’s Ordinance of Nullification. This was South Carolina’s retaliation to the 1832 tariff passed by Jackson. This tariff was supposed to please the south because of the lowered rate compared to the Tariff of Abominations, but it still was not good enough for the south, specifically South Carolina. In response, the state government passed the Ordinance of Nullification, which stated that within the borders of South Carolina, the tariff would not be in effect. They even threatened succession because of their bad feelings towards the tariff. This was not taken lightly by Jackson because he was not one of the presidents that thought the states should have more power than the federal government, and this was a purely states vs. federal Government Issue. Jackson then made a strongly worded proclamation to South Carolina saying that they have to retract the Ordinance of Nullification and that the tariff would be followed everywhere in the country, included their state. He made sure it was clear that military force would be used if necessary, and even got Congress to pass the Force Act, which stated that the government had the power to use armed forces to collect income taxes. The only reason that no violence broke out was because Henry Clay made a compromise tax that both Jackson and South Carolina could agree on. Jackson did a good job with this because he was right to not tolerate the threats of succession from a state. If this was allowed by the president, then the federal government would get taken advantage by many states if they did not get what they wanted. The swift action that was taken sent a message to the rest of the states saying the federal government was not going to allow threats of succession scare them into bending to the states’ will. This was an important win for the federal government in earning respect and power from the states, and it only happened because of Jackson.
Negative Event
One negative event that had a negative influence on the presidency was the Indian Removal Act. This legislature was passed by Congress thanks to Jacksonian Democrats who held seats. This act stated that the Native Americans would have to be moved from their homes in the southeast part of the country to the western part of the Mississippi River. In doing this, he was supporting Georgia in their attempts to rid the state of Native Americans, mainly the Cherokee Tribe. Once they arrived at their new home of the western Mississippi, they were supposed to receive complete sovereignty and live in peace, but that ended up being a lie anyway. The road to the west was an extremely harsh one, and the Native Americans that were being moved were living in terrible conditions. One out of every four Native Americans that made the trip died, and it was then known as the Trail of Tears. Just the name alone shows that it was a negative event that happened during Jackson’s presidency. This removal was greatly disapproved of by many humanitarians and many other people, and it received stiff opposition from many people. Unfortunately, there was not opposition in Congress to stop the act from ever being passed, and eventually Jackson did “succeed” in ridding the southeast of Native Americans. This decision by Jackson was negative because it was going back on the Americans word of letting them stay in colonized America, so long as the Native Americans themselves became colonized. They did this, and they still got pushed westward by the Americans. It was also negatively influential because it gave us another enemy in the form of all of the southeast Native American tribes. Overall, there were many better ways to deal with this situation that Jackson did not do, and therefore, was the biggest mistake Jackson made.
Influential Decision
The most influential decision that Jackson made was the decision to bring in such a large spoil system and change around the whole attitude towards the president’s administration. When Jackson came into office, he wanted to bring in more democratic, working common men into the government. This was done through the spoils system. Jackson rewarded many of his supporters with government jobs. The only problem with this was that not all of the people he brought in were completely honest, working individuals. He brought in many suspicious characters that might not have had the cleanest records. However, this was not all of the people he brought in because many of the men he gave jobs to were useful in giving a different perspective to the highly aristocratic government. This was influential because he was the first president to do this common act in today’s day in age. While the spoils system is done in today’s politics, it was not done nearly as much back in 1828. This caused some talks about how many people Jackson was bringing into office with him, but he justified it as bringing some democracy into the government. This was a good enough justification for most people, and this act of a spoils system was repeated from president to president (or even party to party), and had continued to even today.
Conclusion
America as a whole was definitely better off at the end of Jackson’s two terms than when he took over. Not only was it overall better, but a few disasters were averted due to his quick and decisive decision making, like the choice to not back down to South Carolina, and instead threaten them right back. While that might have been a little risky, risks must be taken to succeed, and that one paid off. However, Jackson was not perfect. He had some cultural mistakes like the Indian Removal Act which completely segregated Native Americans from the whole civilized part of America. Although he made some of those mistakes, he started the beginning of a new era: the era of democracy and that alone is enough to make him a respectable president. In addition to that he made many lasting changes to the presidency, like the spoils system, that are still used today. Jackson was one of the best presidents in history due to his innovation of a new party and other things, and for this and many other reasons, deserves an A for his efforts in office.
Bibliography
DeGregorio, William A.. The complete book of U.S. presidents. New York: Dembner Books :, 2005. Print.
Jackson, Andrew. "Andrew Jackson: Second Inaugural Address. U.S. Inaugural Addresses. 1989." Bartleby.com: Great Books Online -- Quotes, Poems, Novels, Classics and hundreds more. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Oct. 2012. <http://www.bartleby.com/124/pres24.html>.
Latner, Richard B. "Jackson, Andrew." Presidents: A Reference History. Ed. Henry F. Graff. 3rd ed. Detroit: Charles Scribner's Sons, 2002. 101-123. Gale U.S. History In Context. Web. 11 Oct. 2012.
March 15, 1767 in the Waxhaw Region – June 8, 1845 in Nashville Tennessee
Political Party: Democrat
Terms: March 4, 1829 – March 3, 1837
Vice Presidents: First term – John Calhoun in 1825-1832; Second term – Martin Van Buren in 1833-1837
Thematic Context
American Identity as a theme was demonstrated in many ways through the way Jackson represented the government. When Jackson was first elected in 1829 (the campaign of 1828), the election in itself was a huge testament to the shift of the government to more democratic ideals. Jackson represented the common man and furthermore, democracy instead of the old aristocratic government. This was a huge change in American Identity because the past was littered with wealthy landowners only represented their wealthy friends. Jackson was the first president where democracy was favored, and this caused a huge shift in the American attitude. While Jackson might not have directly caused this major development, indirectly he was the cause of this democracy takeover. Jackson was also a president that greatly increased the power of the federal government. This was one of the beginning phases of America being known as a powerful country with the government being able to back it up. However, more specifically, he increased the power of the executive branch. The changes he made were the backbone for increasing the overall power of the federal government, like how the president is allowed to employ armed forces in order to enforce a tax within a state’s borders on the government’s behalf. American Identity is now known by a democratic republic government that is an extremely powerful world power that has a government that should not be tossed around. Jackson was the first president to really accentuate these two major parts of the present American Identity in such an early time, therefore the Identity was greatly influenced during his presidency.
Thesis
Andrew Jackson came into the presidency as a heavy favorite and was not, in any way, expected to lose. This meant he was coming into the presidency as a popular man for the people and had the opportunity to make a large positive impact on the country, which he did. In doing that, he changed many things, like the power of the executive branch and the influence of the presidential cabinet. However, the mistakes of mistreating the Native Americans and other cultural issues hindered the success of his administration. For these reasons, Jackson earns a grade of an A for his extraordinary take on the position of power and having a positive impact on the country.
Goals
In Jackson’s both of Jackson’s inaugural addresses, he clearly stated many times that he was the president for the public people, or the common man. His main goal in office was to represent the interests of the common American worker and not just the aristocratic politicians. Since the majority of America did fit into the common man, this goal propelled Jackson to the top of the polls and got him into the presidency with ease. An example of him accomplishing this job was by his spoils system. He wanted more common workers to have government positions, so he did this by giving a lot of those jobs to people who supported him in his campaign. While the people he chose might not have been the most qualified, they were indeed people from the middle-waged worker group. This system of having his own supporters in the government jobs showed that he directly got the common man some voice in the normally aristocratic government and accomplished his goal. This theme was clearly the main goal of his presidency. He also had a smaller goal of keeping the power of the government in the hands of the federal government and not the states. He accomplished this by the Force Act when dealing with South Carolina and their attempt to nullify the law within their state. The force act said that the federal government was allowed to enforce the federal laws within state borders with a matter of force. This then took away the power of the states to be able to control all of the legislations within their state and gave the federal government the power of using force to enforce different laws. Jackson was one of the few presidents that did follow through on many of his goals thoroughly, and that increased his credibility as a president immensely.
Relationship with Congress
Jackson’s relationship with Congress was easily seen with the amount of things that he got passed when he wanted them. The relationship between him and Congress was very good. Many bills were passed, and his followers in Congress were usually able to obtain a majority of votes in order to pass Jackson’s wanted legislatures. Unlike the previous president, Jackson was able to get many positive things accomplished due to his popularity throughout Congress. One example of this was the Indian Removal Act. This was the bill that forced the Native Americans to leave their southeastern homes and move to the Midwest. This was morally wrong, and many humanitarians who were not devoted to Jackson were against it. This caused there to be stiff opposition to this bill and was very controversial. Fortunately for Jackson, he had a large following in Congress that all came together in order to make sure the bill was passed; there were enough of them to overshadow the opposition. In many cases, if a bill is in stiff opposition like the Indian Removal Act was, then it normally does not get passed. However, the large following that Jackson had in Congress allowed things like the Indian Removal Act to be passed, even in the face of opposition. Another aspect of their relationship was that Jackson was not allowing Congress to be more powerful than the executive branch. The way he could control that was through the veto power that he possessed and he used it more than all of the previous presidents combined. This shows that he thought the executive branch should be more powerful than Congress and utilize the veto as much as necessary, not just when something is unconstitutional. Overall the relationship he had with Congress was good because they were in favor of him, but he also changed the relationship they would have for the rest of history. He did this because he is the president that made the veto so used like it is today.
Positive Event
One positive event that Jackson contributed during his presidency was the dealing with South Carolina’s Ordinance of Nullification. This was South Carolina’s retaliation to the 1832 tariff passed by Jackson. This tariff was supposed to please the south because of the lowered rate compared to the Tariff of Abominations, but it still was not good enough for the south, specifically South Carolina. In response, the state government passed the Ordinance of Nullification, which stated that within the borders of South Carolina, the tariff would not be in effect. They even threatened succession because of their bad feelings towards the tariff. This was not taken lightly by Jackson because he was not one of the presidents that thought the states should have more power than the federal government, and this was a purely states vs. federal Government Issue. Jackson then made a strongly worded proclamation to South Carolina saying that they have to retract the Ordinance of Nullification and that the tariff would be followed everywhere in the country, included their state. He made sure it was clear that military force would be used if necessary, and even got Congress to pass the Force Act, which stated that the government had the power to use armed forces to collect income taxes. The only reason that no violence broke out was because Henry Clay made a compromise tax that both Jackson and South Carolina could agree on. Jackson did a good job with this because he was right to not tolerate the threats of succession from a state. If this was allowed by the president, then the federal government would get taken advantage by many states if they did not get what they wanted. The swift action that was taken sent a message to the rest of the states saying the federal government was not going to allow threats of succession scare them into bending to the states’ will. This was an important win for the federal government in earning respect and power from the states, and it only happened because of Jackson.
Negative Event
One negative event that had a negative influence on the presidency was the Indian Removal Act. This legislature was passed by Congress thanks to Jacksonian Democrats who held seats. This act stated that the Native Americans would have to be moved from their homes in the southeast part of the country to the western part of the Mississippi River. In doing this, he was supporting Georgia in their attempts to rid the state of Native Americans, mainly the Cherokee Tribe. Once they arrived at their new home of the western Mississippi, they were supposed to receive complete sovereignty and live in peace, but that ended up being a lie anyway. The road to the west was an extremely harsh one, and the Native Americans that were being moved were living in terrible conditions. One out of every four Native Americans that made the trip died, and it was then known as the Trail of Tears. Just the name alone shows that it was a negative event that happened during Jackson’s presidency. This removal was greatly disapproved of by many humanitarians and many other people, and it received stiff opposition from many people. Unfortunately, there was not opposition in Congress to stop the act from ever being passed, and eventually Jackson did “succeed” in ridding the southeast of Native Americans. This decision by Jackson was negative because it was going back on the Americans word of letting them stay in colonized America, so long as the Native Americans themselves became colonized. They did this, and they still got pushed westward by the Americans. It was also negatively influential because it gave us another enemy in the form of all of the southeast Native American tribes. Overall, there were many better ways to deal with this situation that Jackson did not do, and therefore, was the biggest mistake Jackson made.
Influential Decision
The most influential decision that Jackson made was the decision to bring in such a large spoil system and change around the whole attitude towards the president’s administration. When Jackson came into office, he wanted to bring in more democratic, working common men into the government. This was done through the spoils system. Jackson rewarded many of his supporters with government jobs. The only problem with this was that not all of the people he brought in were completely honest, working individuals. He brought in many suspicious characters that might not have had the cleanest records. However, this was not all of the people he brought in because many of the men he gave jobs to were useful in giving a different perspective to the highly aristocratic government. This was influential because he was the first president to do this common act in today’s day in age. While the spoils system is done in today’s politics, it was not done nearly as much back in 1828. This caused some talks about how many people Jackson was bringing into office with him, but he justified it as bringing some democracy into the government. This was a good enough justification for most people, and this act of a spoils system was repeated from president to president (or even party to party), and had continued to even today.
Conclusion
America as a whole was definitely better off at the end of Jackson’s two terms than when he took over. Not only was it overall better, but a few disasters were averted due to his quick and decisive decision making, like the choice to not back down to South Carolina, and instead threaten them right back. While that might have been a little risky, risks must be taken to succeed, and that one paid off. However, Jackson was not perfect. He had some cultural mistakes like the Indian Removal Act which completely segregated Native Americans from the whole civilized part of America. Although he made some of those mistakes, he started the beginning of a new era: the era of democracy and that alone is enough to make him a respectable president. In addition to that he made many lasting changes to the presidency, like the spoils system, that are still used today. Jackson was one of the best presidents in history due to his innovation of a new party and other things, and for this and many other reasons, deserves an A for his efforts in office.
Bibliography
DeGregorio, William A.. The complete book of U.S. presidents. New York: Dembner Books :, 2005. Print.
Jackson, Andrew. "Wordle - Create." Wordle - Beautiful Word Clouds. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Oct. 2012. <http://www.wordle.net/create>.
Jackson, Andrew. "Andrew Jackson: Second Inaugural Address. U.S. Inaugural Addresses. 1989." Bartleby.com: Great Books Online -- Quotes,
Poems, Novels, Classics and hundreds more. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Oct. 2012. <http://www.bartleby.com/124/pres24.html>.
Latner, Richard B. "Jackson, Andrew." Presidents: A Reference History. Ed. Henry F. Graff. 3rd ed. Detroit: Charles Scribner's Sons, 2002. 101-123. Gale U.S. History In Context. Web. 11 Oct. 2012.
"List of United States presidential vetoes - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia." Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Oct. 2012. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_United_States_presidential_vetoes>.